An Unexpected Turn in Life
by The Leader of Monkeys
Summary: An unfortunate tragedy struck the family of Masaki and Isshin as destiny did a180 and wiped the other parent who looked set on living out of existence completely. Heartbroken, the mother of the family takes her children away from Karakura Town, away from the cause of her husband's death, and into the sanctuary of Southern Japan. Will they find peace?


**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Shaman King. Yeah. New story time. I've always been interested in writing a Bleach/Shaman King crossover. I've borrowed the spirit cuffs from Yu Yu Hakusho, I'll give them back. I have to make Ichigo more powerful whatever the cost. Right? Of course.**

**Cha = slang for you**

**The pairing is IchigoxRukia... Na I'm just kidding! Haha! I like the pairings in Bleach, I like them a lot! It's just that I would prefer to not do the canon ones in crossovers. So this means NO IchiHime or IchiRuki, It won't happen. **

* * *

_**The world of the living or just generally plain old earth to those who did not live within the radius of the Soul Society, a place where all dead souls go if they happened to die within Northern Japan as the world was a huge place and the Soul Society couldn't purify all humans, as they were an ungodly amount of human beings within the world. **_

_**No. They were only one set of warriors known as shinigami within a portion of the world as a whole.**_

_**They weren't perfect by any means of the imagination.**_

_**Instead Southern Japan was populated by a different breed of warriors. There was a tribe of supernatural beings that could summon souls from the spirit world or could even send them there if they found any souls wandering around the world. The other supernatural beings from that section of the world were actual swordsmen/fighters. And those kinds of warriors (humans) known as Shamans chose the partner (spirit) that they were destined to battle with as the two would complement each other for all eternity, until the human died. However the shinigami(s) within Northern Japan actually had their partners born within their souls if one inherited the blood from one's parent who in return would've to inherit that warrior-blood from one's own parent and so on and so forth. **_

_**The interesting thing was that the shinigami(s) within Northern Japan **__**had humans who also gained supernatural powers, but fought nothing like the shamans from the Southern side of Japan as they fought with bows and arrows, not swords. Then again Southern Japan just wasn't crawling with the heartless beings that went around looking for human souls to feast on.**_

_**But this didn't mean that the two beings of a higher-dimensional plane field wouldn't clash and shake the world for all its worth. **_

* * *

_A vibrating sound followed by a ringing noise reverberated throughout a small three bedroomed house inhabited by a beautiful woman with long orange hair, her husband, and three children of which two were female twins and one was the star of the story whom happened to be the oldest children of the wife's and husband's three children. _

"_Ah! Someone's calling us! I shall get it!" An exuberant roar of a tall muscular man's voice drummed on the very air itself like drummers on a drum. His short black spiky hair stood upward and seemed to defy gravity itself as his onyx coloured eyes danced with mirth within them at the prospect of answering the call to find out it was one of his friends. _

_He had stubble and slight sideburns. His attire consisted of a long white trench coat falling to his ankles that looked more like a bigger version of Dexter's lab coat from Dexter's Laboratory, and his appearance was complete with an orange Hawaii shirt and black trousers. _

_This was Isshin Kurosaki, the husband of one of the most beautiful women in the city of Karakura Town: Masaki Kurosaki. He worked as a doctor to bring in ends-meat for his family, and he always tried to cheer them up with his shenanigans and goofy demeanour. He was a decent man if he did say so himself. _

_Isshin picked up the phone and answered it exuberantly, "Welcome friend! Never be shy to saunter on down to the home of the Kurosakis!"_

"_I might just have to take you up on that invite old friend__." Isshin's grin widened at the all too familiar voice he had come to know in all his years living within the world of the living. _

"_Kisuke Urahara." Isshin announced, grinning, "How's it been old chum? Ya know you and Tessai should c'mon down here for tea sometime. I'm sure the wife and our children would love to see ya both. Who knows?"_

"_That we may do Isshin-kun… That we may do." __Kisuke said earnestly before deciding to get down to business, "__I've detected strong reiatsu leaking out of your home Isshin__."_

_Isshin scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner, "Well, shucks, I didn't realize I was already regaining my rei-."_

"_No. It isn't coming from you." __Came Kisuke's calm denial that immediately made Isshin flinch as fear welled up inside of his eyes. Could it be coming from Masaki? No. She lost her powers only recently. It couldn't be coming from Yuzu and Karin because the ability to see ghosts past over their generation completely. That just left-…_

"_It's coming from your son. And a mass amount of it." __Kisuke elucidated with his voice betraying none of his emotions. He could sense the reiryoku just oozing off of Ichigo in spades!_

"_Damn it!" Isshin hissed quietly, "How much reiryoku are we talking about here?"_

"_About captain-level if I'm being perfectly honest with you." __Isshin gasped at that. _

"_That means hollows'll be all over him."_

"_Precisely." __Kisuke agreed. "__But not to worry, dear friend, for I have created a new kido that could be very beneficial to your son Ichigo. It'll keep the hollows away from him that's for sure__." Kisuke grinned. _

_Isshin's eyes widened, "You're not joking right? This kido spell of yours can really assure that my boy won't be targeted by hollows?"_

"_Yes. Ichigo's reiryoku will be that of a unseated officer once I cast this kido spell on him. You could think of the reiryoku restrictor along the lines of a special suit of armour that'll seal off a vast majority of Ichigo's reiryoku and strengthen that portion of his powers exponentially. I would say once the reiryoku restrictor comes off, Ichigo'll have the reserves of three captains put together!"_

_Isshin almost had a heart attack as he laughed uproariously, "I always knew my boy had it in him to be extremely strong! You should see him go in karate class; he smacks those other kids around like they're nothing!"_

"_I can imagine." __Kisuke said tentatively, sweat-dropping, "__So can you bring Ichigo around here later tonight for me to place the kido spell on him Isshin?__"_

"_Of course, of course!" Isshin agreed frantically, "I'll take him to karate class first and come around your place afterward to get a better look at this kido spell for myself, after that I'll pick up Ichigo and bring him around to yours, sound good?"_

"_Yes. See you soon Isshin."_

"_Back at cha Kisuke-kun!"_

_With the conversation finished between the lads, Isshin hang up the phone with a thoughtful look on his face. Usually his wife Masaki took Ichigo to karate class, but today of all days Isshin had to get off of his lazy ass and assure that his son was safe at all costs. He'd do that because he was Ichigo's father, and that what fathers do after all. _

"_I'll see to it that you're safe… son."_

* * *

**An Unexpected Turn in Life **

**Chapter 1**

**Tragedy Strikes the Kurosaki Family like Lightning**

"Ichigo-chan, are you ready to attend karate class?"

A kind angelic voice echoed throughout a small house inhabited by a family of five. A beautiful orange haired lady with cream-skin stood at the bottom of the stairs with her hand cupping her mouth calling for her nine year old son to be ready for karate-class. Her pink bosom hugged her skin and emphasized her hour-glass figure that swayed from side to side, giving a mesmerizing view of her rear-end to any observers watching her.

Her chocolate brown skirt fell to her ankles, covering her long smooth legs that could've helped her complete in a basketball game if she wanted to. And her amazing appearance was completed by the loose-fitting high-heels on her feet.

"Be down in a minute mom, I just gotta find my belt." The voice of a young boy known as Ichigo Kurosaki echoed from upstairs, making the woman now known as his mother shake her head with a smile on her face.

"Don't take too long son. Your friend Tatsuki-chan'll find another partner to spar with if we don't show up soon ya know." Ichigo's mother said to somewhat tease her son, and it worked as an embarrass sputter sounded out from upstairs, making the smile on his mother's face widen.

That smile soon disappeared as her mouth opened in a shock gasp as the woman found her waist ensnared by two strong arms, "Ohh! Is my dear Masaki torturing our little Ichigo again?"

The woman now known as Masaki giggled softly before a moan of pleasure escaped her lips as the man sank his teeth onto her ear like a bunny rabbit, "Isshin! Our daughters are in the living room watching TV ya know." She seemingly scolded Isshin as the feel of his little nibbles on her ear was too irresistible to ignore.

She grinded her hips against his private parts, and jumped in surprise at the hardness of it. Isshin gained a sheepish grin on his bearded face, "Ah. The boys are feeling a little solid down there! Haha!"

The woman sighed at the man's behaviour, though she couldn't keep the smile from spreading across her face. This was her husband Isshin Kurosaki. He'd saved her from a rare virus of sorts at the cost of something dear, and his powers were a last no more. Where he came from would not accept what he did for the woman with long orange hair, but he did not care.

To him he was only returning the favour to the orange haired woman.

Isshin's face suddenly got serious, "I just got off of the phone with Kisuke." Masaki's eyes widened at the name of the man who assisted Isshin in curing her of the virus that threatened to wipe her out. "He says Ichigo's reiatsu is beginning to leak out." He whispered into her ear, making her gasp.

This was something that both had greatly worried about. They knew that they were descendants of higher beings, one were humans whom developed supernatural powers and were able to utilize that potential known as reiryoku (spirit energy) and turn it into great power which was known as reiatsu (spiritual pressure), on the contrary the beings of Isshin's tribe could also utilize their reiryoku and turn it into tremendous reiatsu.

The other was not even human… per say, in the sense that Isshin died and was reborn up in heaven where he trained in an academy to become an ascended samurai-like warrior that went around purifying monsters without hearts.

The man's very being consisted of reishi (spirit particles) which could be used to walk on the very air itself. In fact the only reason he could be seen was because of his good friend Kisuke Urahara whom made him an artificial body known as a gigai so humans could interact with him and he could blend into the human-world without having to face the consequences of his actions.

Ichigo was a mixture of two powerful tribes his mother and father originated from. It was an extreme rarity for one to inherit the powers of both tribes from one's parents, hence why the other two children had not even the ounce of reiryoku within their systems, something that the two were thankful for. It was probably due to the fact that they were twins, and so it seemingly skipped their generation.

Either way, the two were thankful that their daughters didn't obtain any powers from them so they could live normal lives (life's). Ichigo, however, for all intents and purposes, would not be living a normal life as the monsters that the race of warriors Isshin was a descendant from slayed would be hunting for the boy to gain that abnormal power within him.

Masaki bit her top lip, "What are we going to do about Ichigo-chan?"

Isshin laughed in a goofy manner, "Oh don't you worry about that dear! Just leave that to me! Your lab coat wearing knight in shining white armour shall see to it that our son is well-protected!" A small giggle reverberated from around the corner while a sigh followed after it, signalling that the two five year old girls had heard their father.

He was probably rambling incoherently like he always did (to the twins), but Masaki knew her husband better than that. And she thanked him with a kiss on the cheek for the way he always tried to lighten the mood even if it meant making himself look like a clown in front of his children.

"Thank you Isshin. Sometimes I forget why I married you." Masaki said with an affection smile on her face.

Isshin had his arms crossed over his chest and a big grin on his face. "Well I'm not perfect my dear."

Masaki put her hands on his chest, "You're close enough my love." She giggled.

Isshin scratched his cheek bashfully before getting down to business once again, "I'll take Ichigo to karate class today, you stay here and prepare some of that wonderful cooking you make so well my dear." Masaki rolled her eyes and playfully hit her husband in his arm.

"My hero, eh?" Masaki asked jestingly, making Isshin laugh before his eyes narrowed and his serious demeanour was on show once again.

"Kisuke's planning to put a reiryoku restrictor on Ichigo. He said it would restrict Ichigo's reiatsu to that of a unseated officer while continuously strengthening the portion of power its holding back from Ichigo so hollows won't see fit to devour him. Bottom-line is once the reiryoku restrictor comes off, Ichigo could've the reiatsu of three captains put together!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Blinking and gaping was all Masaki could do after she heard that. She knew her baby boy had a tremendous amount of reiryoku for a small boy of only nine years old, but to know he could have the power of three captains blended together, well, that was a frightening thought.

Their musings of Ichigo and his potential were broken by the sound of footsteps descending (down) the stairs, "I'm ready, mom." The boy was short with a mop of orange spiky hair, his eyes were hazel, and his smile could light up the universe with its radiance. He wore a karate gi-top with a yellow belt, white gi bottoms, and black sandals on his feet.

Inexplicably, Isshin gleamed.

"Were you tw-."

"YOU'RE LATE… ICHIGOOOOOOO!"

Isshin soared towards Ichigo who was still on the third step of the stairs with a flying-kick, receiving a sigh out of Ichigo who amazingly leap-frogged into the air the moment his father got within reach of him and tremendously stomped his feet into the taller man's stomach, making blood fly from Isshin's mouth as his back harshly slammed off of the stairs before he rolled to a painful stop by his wife's feet.

Masaki had a look of amusement on her face while two set of little feet came stomping their way, "What's happened!?" A little girl with light brown hair falling to her shoulders asked frantically as she looked at her injured father worriedly with her brown orbs for eyes. She wore a yellow dress and brown socks.

"Mommy, what happened to daddy?" The brown haired girl asked as she sauntered over to Masaki and tugged on her skirt.

Masaki smiled down at the girl, "Don't worry, Yuzu-chan. He was just playing with Ichigo-chan again." Ichigo frowned at his mother use of the honorific for him but didn't speak up as the black haired girl smirked at him.

"It seems like it was more than just playing." The black haired girl grinned. Her eyes were dark as she wore a red t shirt, black shorts, and white socks on her feet. "Ichi-nii beat up the old man there like he was nothing."

"Karin-chan!" Her twin sister scolded her.

Karin shrugged, "What? It's true."

"But you'll make daddy feel bad!" Yuzu resorted before Isshin jumped up to his feet with his hands on his hips.

"Ohhh! There's no need to worry about your old man my precious little girl!" Isshin assured and Yuzu smiled at her father. Isshin looked at Ichigo, "Those were some good moves my boy, I can't wait to see you in action at karate class."

Ichigo lifted an eyebrow, "I thought mamma was taking me to karate-class."

Isshin wagged his finger chidingly, "Can't an old man spend some time with his son? You never know what could happen in the future. Who knows how long we'll all be together." He explained jestingly, getting a nudge in the arm from Masaki as the girls tilted their little heads to the side.

"What does daddy mean by that?" Yuzu asked.

"Oh. He means nothing. He's just joking around. Aren't you Isshin?" Masaki asked expectantly, a sickly sweet smile on her face that hid her malevolence from her children as it bared heavily on the shoulders of a nervous Isshin.

"Haha! Of course! Of course! Your old man likes to joke around ya know!" Isshin assured the girls frantically, waving his arms around to stop his wife from killing him. Yuzu giggled softly while Ichigo and Karin rolled their eyes.

"…Oh brother." Ichigo sighed.

XxX

(Later)

XxX

Tripe aside: Ichigo accepted his dad taking him to karate-class and was venturing to karate class with his father in tow right now, the two walking through an alleyway as the sun started to sink from the sky, bathing the sky in a shiny orange colour that blended into Ichigo's carrot top hair very nicely.

As Ichigo and Isshin continued to near karate-class, Ichigo turned his head to glance at a ghostly-figure of a seemingly old man that made him sigh. It wasn't the first time he had seen these hologram-like humans, and it made him curious as to why he could see them when no one at his school could.

"Hey, dad." Ichigo tapped his father's arm.

"So you can see him." Isshin's serious voice surprised Ichigo as his father did not even look at the ghostly figure leaning against the wall. "He's a spirit son."

"Spirit?" Ichigo wondered in confusion, "Like in ghosts that should be living in heavens, kinda spirits."

"Yes."

"Then why can I see 'em. When I ask the kids at my school if they can see those ghostly humans they think I'm telling some sort of joke." Ichigo explained with a frown on his face.

Isshin grinned widely, "That's because you have something known as reiryoku my boy, and a mass amount of it."

"Reiryoku? What's that?" The little boy's curiosity was getting the better of him now.

"It's something only special humans have. It lays within your very essence son. I myself once had it, but it sadly died out of my system as I continued to get older in life. Not everyday has this special trait Ichigo, for example your baby sisters don't have any sign of reiryoku as they haven't ever mentioned seeing spirits like you have son. This is because it skipped their generation entirely," Isshin lied while Ichigo looked up with a look of contemplation on his face as they started strolling alongside a slope leading to a river stream, "Unfortunately, you having so much reiryoku leaves you valuable to beings who want to eat you for that power." Ichigo wasn't ready to learn about his inheritance just as yet.

Ichigo grinned toothily, "I dunno about that old man! I'm pretty tough myself, ya know!"

Isshin chuckled, "Yeah you're pretty tough alright." Isshin suddenly stopped and bent down to his son's level who blinked at his father, "And you're gonna be even tougher." Isshin's expression turned grave, "Listen son, this is very serious. Your power could attract some dangerous beings that could potentially harm your sisters. It's because of this is why you will have a reiryoku restrictor placed upon you."

"Reiryoku restrictor?" Ichigo questioned as he blinked a couple of times, "What's that?"

Isshin gestured for Ichigo to start walking to which he did, "It's like a suit of armour that'll seal off a good deal of your reiryoku so the monsters that eat powerful humans with large amounts of reiryoku will stay away from you since the amount of reiryoku you have won't be enough to sate them. The reiryoku sealed off from you will strengthen over time and once you remove the reiryoku restrictor you'll be extremely powerful my son."

Ichigo nodded dumbly. He had no idea what his father was talking about, but he would take his word that he just wanted to see to it that Ichigo was safe. Add to the fact Ichigo did not want to put his family in danger because of an incomprehensible power within him that could draw monsters to him.

"Okay dad. I'll trust you on this. Don't let me down." Ichigo said and Isshin smiled as Ichigo turned his head to look down the slope and saw a little girl looking hard at the ocean with something of a depressed expression on her face, 'What's she doing there?'

"C'MON SON! LET'S PICK UP THE PACE AND GO!" Isshin yelled as he placed his hands on Ichigo's back and began pushing him to karate class, making him sigh as he momentarily took his eyes off of the girl and paced toward karate class.

'She'll be fine.'

xXx

"Oh, hey, Ichigo-chan, what's up?" A girl asked once Isshin and Ichigo made it into a decently sized room with brown woodened flooring, a huge mirror alongside the wall, and a tall man wearing a black gi with a black belt tied around his waist standing in the centre of the room. Surprisingly, Ichigo did not frown when the girl added the 'chan' suffix to his name. This was because they'd been friends ever since Ichigo was first enrolled into nursery, and because the girl's parents were on good terms with Ichigo's, the two ended up attending the same Junior school.

The way his momma called him "Ichigo-chan" was obviously meant to baby him.

"Hi. It's good to see you Tatsuki." Ichigo greeted with a smile on his face. The girl was wearing the same gi as Ichigo, only she'd a red belt on instead to signal she was of a lower rank than Ichigo in terms of karate. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

Tatsuki nodded her head contently and looked at Ichigo's smiling father curiously, "Where's your mother? Doesn't she normally drop you off?"

"Yeah. But apparently my old man here had a chore for me to do afterwards or something around those lines." Ichigo explained mysteriously as his long-time friend from nursery times blinked in utter confusion.

"Well I see you don't need me Ichigo-boy!" Isshin spoke up exuberantly, getting Ichigo to nod as Isshin bent down to whisper something in his ear, "I'll pick you up later, and then we'll head to Kisuke's to place that reiryoku restrictor on you." Ichigo's grunt was all the affirmation he needed before he stood up and bid his only son a goodbye with a pat on his shoulder.

"What'd your father ask you Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked in curiosity, but Ichigo waved his hand dismissively.

"It doesn't matter, Tatsuki." Tatsuki pouted at Ichigo, but Ichigo only grinned carelessly at her while scratching the side of his cheek.

"Well it looks like I'll have to beat that info outta you Ichigo!" Tatsuki assured, punching her two fists together in a challenging manner.

"Okay. We'll see about that." Ichigo said in a humble manner before the teacher assembled the rest of the students to line up in four rows of twenty, all wearing either yellow or red belts around their waists.

"I'm pleased that you could all make it to class. We'll be continuing where we all left off last week." Ichigo's sensei said and the kids including Ichigo all bowed once in a show of respect to the man that was teaching them how to defend themselves.

xXx

(With Isshin)

Isshin was making his way to Kisuke's place before he pulled out his phone to ring his blond haired friend he had known since he came from the Soul Society, a place where all human souls go after death and even become warriors of a higher being to any and all humans. Isshin wouldn't be going back there now though. Even know he offered his very powers to assure that Masaki lived it was still against the rules of the Soul Society to surrender one's powers to any human or human-related matters.

Isshin was just glad that his gigai blocked out his reiatsu-signature (small as it was) and turned him into a mere human (more or less), otherwise the Soul Society would find him and massacre him like a limb to the slaughter-house.

'C'mon Kisuke, I don't have all day.' Isshin stressed as he kept his phone pressed against his ear and heard the ringing of it while he walked along the slope he and son had walked across to get to Karate-class.

"_Ah, Isshin-kun, my good man, how are you tonight_?" Came the good-natured voice of Kisuke over the other line. "_I take it you've dropped your son off at karate class, huh_?"

"Yes. I'm walking towards your place now." Isshin told his friend. "I hope that reiryoku restrictor of yours is safe for my boy, ya' know. It's a father job to see to it that his son is well-protected from all threats after all!"

"_Of course, of course. A fine job you do at that my friend_." Kisuke agreed calmly, "_You should not worry, as I am a mere humble shopkeeper with a somehow decently sized brain to invent new things_." For some reason Isshin had the strange feeling that his friend was grinning widely and covering that huge smile with his trademark fan.

"Alrighty then! I'm on my way, since my boy won't be finished karate class for a couple of hours I might as well chill with the boys down at the cand-." Isshin stopped his line of thought as his eyes locked onto the form of the girl his son had noticed earlier still standing in the same place as if she were glued to the spot.

Kisuke decided to finish the doctor's line for him, "_Ohhhh! So the former shinigami's gonna grace this little stop with his presence alone, eh? I'm honoured you'd come down here Isshin-kun_." Isshin didn't respond as he lowered his head and eyed the girl by the river intently, swearing to himself that she was slowly falling in. Whether it was deliberate or not, the black haired doctor did not know.

"Why is she standing there?" Isshin murmured to himself, but the phone was still attached to his ear, hence Kisuke heard him as clear as day.

"_Who's standing where_?" A sly smirk formed on Kisuke's features, "_Are you doing the business with your wife? How dirty of you. No wonder she won't move from the spot she's standing at_." Still no response would come from the black haired man as he carefully treaded down the slope and onto the river stream as if he were being pulled towards the girl by a magnetic force.

"AH! I didn't mean to disturb you. It's just that you look troubled so I thought I could help you." Isshin chuckled in a bid to lighten the mood as he stood directly behind the girl and was oblivious to the barbarous breathing coming from somewhere in the air. The black lightning that inexplicably flashed throughout the sky made Isshin flinch as the girl calmly stayed in place.

"Well that was an odd occurrence wasn't it?" Isshin chuckled.

The girl did not grace him with a reply, making Isshin face-fault before he quickly regained his defiance with a glint shining in his eye.

xXx

(Elsewhere – Location Unknown)

At a small corner shop located on the edge of town near the cemetery was a blond, bleached haired man sitting in seiza with a phone resting by his ear. His messy bangs covered his eyes slightly, as the bangs of his hair were seen hanging out of the green striped hat he'd on his head. He had pale skin and was a fairly tall man with decently sized muscles, not overly so.

He wore a dark green trench coat over a lighter green kimono top complete with baggy green kimono trousers, a white sash tied around his waist and geta sandals on his feet with a brown wooden walking cane in his hand.

The goofy man's face immediately turned serious as no response came from his equally goofy friend, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"What is it Urahara-dono?" A masculine voice asked before a huge bespectacled man came walking into the living room with a tray on his tan-skinned hand with two cups of tea placed upon it. His black hair was cornrowed as the end of his hair was braided into a ponytail reaching (to) his upper back to match his long and thick moustache. He wore a plain white muscle shirt underneath a long dark blue apron, blue tight jeans, and blue toed-sandals on his feet.

"Isshin's not responding directly to my responses. I think he may be talking to a girl." Kisuke said as his bucket-shaped hat shadowed his eyes.

Tessai stroked his chin with one hand while balancing the tray on the other one, "Could the girl he's speaking to have some sort of-."

Kisuke put his hand up as Isshin began speaking up, "_Hello? Hey! Are you even listen-. Hey, what happened to your face? It's not there_!"

"It's not there?" Kisuke murmured to himself as he and Tessai both pondered that sentence as if remembering something of high importance.

"Wasn't it reported when we were still in the Soul Society that a certain hollow used the victims it ensnared to lure human souls and shinigami alike to its clutches so it could devour their souls." Tessai said and Kisuke's eyes widened in remembrance of the monstrous being that had been avoiding any and all shinigami-warriors for fifty years!

"ISSHIN! GET AWAY FROM THE GI-" But it was too late! The bloodcurdling scream of Isshin echoed through the phone and devastated Kisuke and Tessai, "ISSHINNNNNNNNNNNN!" Kisuke screamed desperately while Tessai covered his mouth as a horrified gasp escaped it.

"No. He wasn't of the age to die like this." Tessai concluded while Kisuke seethed in fury and pounded the table in exasperation.

"His family isn't going to take the news well." Kisuke stated calming himself down before a deep, gruffly voice came from the still on phone.

"_**Well that was a delicious meal. He had more than the average amount of reiryoku in him… minuscule as it was; it still wasn't bad for a human. Hehe. The foolish man didn't even know the girl by the river was merely an illusion. It sucks to be him then. Mwhahahahahahahahaha**_**!"**

"So I assume this is the hollow who has eaten a kind-hearted family man." Kisuke spoke up darkly, getting a curious "huh" from the hollow over the other line. "I think you may have dropped the phone _partner_."

The volume that came through the phone let Kisuke know the hollow had picked up the phone. "_**Oh! What's this? That clown of a human had some friends I see. It just means more dinner for me then**_**."**

Kisuke's fist clenched involuntarily before he reached for his cane and grabbed it in defiance. "You'll be making a grave mistake… _partner,_ challenging me. Because I can assure you that your very being will be casted away to the deep depths of hell to rot in the devilish flames of it confines for all eternity."

The hollow gulped subconsciously at Kisuke's dark tone. "_**Who are you human? You sound like one of those veteran shinigami I've eaten. And trust me… I've eaten a lot of shinigami… boy! I've eaten tons of vice-captains in my time, so don't underestimate me boy!**_**"**

"Boy, huh?" Kisuke grinned wryly, "Well this mere 'boy' happens to have reached the very rank of a captain."

"_**WHAT?**_**!"**

"That's right hollow-san. A captain, the cream of the crop, although I like to consider myself at a modest third to the top kind of warrior, as I am a mere humble shopkeeper." The line abruptly went dead and Kisuke sighed, "He's gone."

"What'll you do now, Kisuke-dono?" Tessai questioned as he placed the tray down on the table and placed his hands together in a moment's pray for Isshin.

Kisuke stood up, gripping his wooden walking cane tightly in his hand, "Isshin's gone I fear, his family have a right to know. I'll be going to inform them this instant. You pick up Isshin's son at karate-class and keep the boy safe from any hollows."

Tessai nodded his head as he stood up and ignored the two cups of tea(s) he prepared for Kisuke and himself. This was no time for tea damn it! "Will you be using the reiryoku restrictor kido spell you created on Ichigo-san?"

Kisuke nodded affirmatively, "Yes. After tonight I doubt that Masaki would want anything to do with Karakura town again… as saddening as a thought that is." Tessai nodded his head sadly and prepared to walk on outta the house to collect Ichigo from karate class with Kisuke heading out to inform Isshin's wife and two daughters of the devastating news that awaited them.

XxX

(Kurosaki's home)

Masaki abruptly held her heart as her two daughters contently watched TV while she was preparing dinner for them all as a happy family, 'Why have I got this ominous feeling that something bad has happened all of a sudden?' Had Ichigo been hurt? Hollows were purposely after her son for his delicious power after all. Masaki couldn't bear the thought of her only son in danger for any reasons that he himself could not comprehend!

'If only I had my powers still. I could feel out Isshin and Ichigo-chan to make sure they're alright.' Masaki thought frustratingly, cutting up a carrot into pieces for tonight dinner. It had been a year since the woman had lost her powers. It was as if an incomprehensible vacuum of absorbing powers took hers away.

She frowned at the loss of her powers. She had felt significantly weaker the time that artificially created hollow-thingy inflicted her with the 'virus- symptom' that nearly eradicated her from the inside out if it wasn't for Isshin who heroically swept into her inner world and rescued her from the devilish thing. They still had little idea of where the fiendish being came from. Kisuke had an idea, but he couldn't quite put the pieces together.

Isshin did feel complied to save her after she intentionally took that bite from the hollow-being in order to eradicate it and in essence save his sorry ass as well. And that was as one would say the start of a beautiful relationship. She did not regret marrying Isshin even if it did mean shutting herself out from the rest of her people as only pure blooded members of Masaki's clan, the Ishida's clan, the clan that had adopted her, were allowed to interact with each other since all clans of the type of warriors Masaki was from was a part of one giant tribe.

Outsiders such as Isshin were forbidden to so much of even look at them with their unworthy eyes.

Masaki was broken out of her musings of her tribe who wanted nothing to do with her by the sound of banging coming from the direction of the door, "Momma! Someone's at the door, I think it's daddy." Yuzu informed her mother brightly, "Maybe he brought onii-chan back early."

Masaki smiled blissfully, placing her hands on her hips, "We'll just see about that dear." Yuzu cheered and bounced up on the sofa with her sister Karin sighing while their mother walked over to the front door and opened it up before answering the silhouette standing there brightly.

"It's good to see you Urahara-san! What can I do for you? Isshin isn't here at the moment." Masaki told him as Kisuke's bucket-shaped hat shadowed his eyes, masking his emotions perfectly while he held one of his hands on his head as the other one was used to hold his wooden walking cane.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance Masaki-san, but I have some troubling news that I'm sure you won't want to hear, but it must be said I fear." Kisuke said solemnly.

"What?" Masaki blinked before her eyes narrowed as she gave Kisuke an expectant look. "Did something go wrong while you were placing that restrictor on my son?"

Kisuke shook his head to Masaki's relief, "No. On the contrary, Ichigo is alright and is being picked up by Tessai."

"Why would Tessai need to pick up Ichigo-chan for? What's Isshin doing?" Kisuke allowed the silence to reign supreme as he placed his hand on top of his green bucket-shaped hat and gave Masaki an apologetic look that made the orange haired woman's eyes widened in realization, "No."

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

That was all he needed to say.

Salty tears ran down Masaki's cheeks as she covered her mouth to keep a dismay gasp from escaping it. "No. No. He was the love of my life." Masaki wailed and Kisuke nodded his head simply, not knowing quite what to say at this point. "How'll I raise three kids without him?"

"I can still place the kido spell on Ichigo if you want to keep hollows away from him." Kisuke tried to offer some solace to her, "This town is crawling with hollows every day, madam. Hollows can be sneaky ones who'll do just about anything just to get a good meal." Kisuke tightened his grip on his wooden cane.

Masaki wiped her tears with the back of her hand but it was all for naught as the floodgates from behind her eyes were utterly destroyed due to this devastating news that she would never see the love of life again… ever again!

"I would appreciate that Urahara-san… I don't think I can stay here any longer… within this town anymore." Masaki admitted, tentatively rubbing her arm while Kisuke nodded his head in understanding. "Can I see Isshin's body, if that's not too much to ask? I want to pay my final respects to the man that I loved."

Silence was king again.

"Oh kami! That hollow ate every last part of him!" Masaki squeaked and then whimpered loudly, losing every last ounce of strength in her knees as she fell on them while holding her heart. Kisuke just nodded sadly before he looked over to the saddened children watching their mother breaking down and not knowing why.

"Why are you upset momma?" Yuzu asked tentatively, getting Masaki to let out a gasp as she wiped her tears away from her eyes and turned around to her two small daughters and crawled over to them.

"Things are going to be very hard now, but we'll manage somehow." Masaki tried to reassure her daughters who just curiously tilted their heads to the side in a questionable manner, "Us three and Ichigo-chan will be moving away from Karakura Town." Yuzu gasped while Karin raised an eyebrow.

"What about the old man? Won't he be coming with us?" Karin asked and more tears flowed freely from Masaki's eyes as the dams holding the water back from her eyes would not repair themselves as the orange haired woman hugged her daughters tightly, much to their confusion.

"No. That's impossible. It's just us four from now on." Masaki cried.

"But why mama? Why can't daddy come with us?" Yuzu asked.

"He just can't dear," Masaki insisted as the girls felt their mother's tears fall onto their heads, "…He just can't." The girls were completely saddened and bewildered as to why their father could not come with them to their new home while Kisuke gave the distraught mother a sad look.

'You led a wonderful life Isshin my old friend… and I'm sorry I wasn't there for you.'

xXx

(Karate class)

The session went according to schedule for one Ichigo Kurosaki… almost that was. His sensei would show the class who were a mixture of red and yellow belts, the first and second ranks, respectively in karate, a few moves like how to move swiftly while maintaining one's stance or how to cleanly disarm one's opponent if they had a weapon on them. He would then have his class do a few sit-ups, star-ups, the casual exercise to strengthen one's endurance and improve on one's overall fitness.

Afterwards he then ordered the kids to find themselves a sparring partner and trade blows with them for the rest of the class. Tatsuki obviously chose Ichigo, she always chose Ichigo, something that had the other kids questioning if she and Ichigo were an item until she threateningly pounded her fists together to scare them off.

Nobody wanted to mess with Tatsuki. She was the second best student after Ichigo, hence why she wanted to spar with him as she could never beat him and it got on her nerves that she couldn't beat him.

And today was no exception.

Yes. For the most part: it was business as usual barring that weird cornrowed haired guy who sauntered into the room twenty minutes ago, said two words to Ichigo's sensei, and sat on the bench just watching Ichigo, and Ichigo only, as if he were saying something around the lines of, "I know your secret. You see dead people."

Whoa… hold up, mind blowing experience right there.

Nonsense aside, that man was really started to piss off Tatsuki as he wouldn't keep his eyes off of her friend Ichigo. But the orange haired boy merely ignored him and continued to wrestle it out with his childhood friend Tatsuki Arisawa. His sensei seemingly gained a sad look on his face before his expression returned to his usual stony, stoic demeanour.

Once the parents started filling up the room, Ichigo's sensei looked at his watch and whistled using his finger and thumb to signal that it was the end of class.

"Time! Everyone lower your guards now." He commanded and everyone did just that. "I'm very proud of you all. You're all making great head-way, go home now and keep practicing to perfect your moves. Just remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was the art of mastering karate. It takes intense years of discipline to perfect the art known as karate! But you're on the right path to doing so." The kids groaned as they turned around to tiredly walk off to the people who had come to collect them while the man in black gave Ichigo a sad look.

"Hey, Ichigo-chan, who do you think that man is over there?" Tatsuki asked as she pointed at the strange man who still kept staring at Ichigo as if expecting him to come to him. His hands were shaped like a rectangle as his piercing eagle-like stare did not falter in the slightest at Ichigo.

"Huh?" Ichigo wondered as he looked around for his father, "I'm not too sure myself Tatsuki. But oh well. It's not like he can do anything to me."

"If you say so." Tatsuki frowned.

"I do say so." Ichigo grinned before raising his eyebrow, "Is my old man running late or something. He said he had something for me tonight."

Tatsuki grinned as she nudged Ichigo with her elbow, "What's that? A new toy? Oh you're so lucky Ichigo-chan."

"Yeah probably, I'm not too sure to be honest with you." Ichigo lied as he honestly doubted his good friend would believe him If he said he saw dead people and needed a spell placed upon him to keep monsters from coming after him to devour him alive.

Tatsuki nodded as she patted Ichigo on the shoulder, "Okay Ichigo-chan. Well I better get going. My mom's over there to pick me up. Make sure to bring in that new toy your father gives you. And DON'T get too full of yourself karate-san because of this win you have over me! I'll beat you someday, ya' know." Ichigo grinned sheepishly while Tatsuki jogged off to her mother and pouted at the bespectacled man watching Ichigo like a hawk's eye.

"Come on dear, we don't want to keep your father waiting now." Tatsuki's mother gently grabbed her hand and urged her to saunter out of the room.

"Okay mother." She flashed her good friend Ichigo a look who gave her a thumbs-up in return and she returned it with a smile in kind. Little did little Tatsuki know that would be the last time she smiled at her friend as she obliviously took off with her mother, her naivety making her believe that she'd always see her childhood friend each and every time he came to karate-class.

"Ichigo," The karate master said with sadness held in his voice.

"Yeah." Ichigo looked at the man curiously, "Sup? Does it have something to do with that man who keeps looking at me funny?"

"It does. He gave me some rather… heart-breaking news you need to hear."

Ichigo blinked a couple of times as he started hyperventilating, "Why me? Did something happen to one of my friends?" Or God-forbid his family, he didn't want to even think that one of them could be ill or even… dead. But as his sensei shook his head in the negative that either one of the few friends Ichigo had here at karate-class were in danger, Ichigo started to get worried.

"It's your father." Ichigo's eyes slowly started to grow in size as his breathing became even more rapid. "He's dead." And that was as they say the nail in the coffin for Ichigo. The pain ripped through Ichigo's heart like a samurai unmercifully cutting off a man's arm. In his mind Ichigo could see himself running away, grabbing semblances of his emotions before shoving them away, never wanting to deal with them again.

"It's okay to cry, Ichigo," The karate master placed his hand on the stone-faced Ichigo's shoulder as the boy's shoulders remained slumped with his arms flung lifelessly downward as if they'd been broken here in karate-class. Not a word was uttered from Ichigo even as Tessai strolled over to them. He merely stood there looking at the floor, "Ichig-."

"It's okay, old man. I know I was responsible for this. If I hadn't come here then my old man would still be alive." The karate master shook his head at the way the boy shamed himself for his father's death, "I will bear the burden of his death… and I will no longer come back to karate-class."

Will the burden of Isshin's death ever be lifted off of the young boy's shoulders? And what trials will the now stoic young boy go through as he unwilling journeys on a dark path in a bid to not have to deal with his emotions? The wheels of Ichigo's life have been turned and now the boy must settle within a new town while trying to push those who attempt to get close to him away.

* * *

**There'll be a time-skip of four years with Ichigo and his family moving to Tokyo and soon he'll meet Yoh and the boys. And the restrictor's being used to make Ichigo more powerful not weaker. Fuck that. **


End file.
